Machine for assorting rods and tubes



ct. 21 I1924..

. 1,512,240 J. A.RYAN ET AL l MACHINE .FOR ASSORT'ING RODS AND TUBES r Filed mayl 11. 1925 I 34 1 4 as 39 36 33 z8 /7 M@ W G a 0 o ,I

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. l mano j PATENT orifice.v

JOSEPH A. RYAN AND LOUIS TURNER, OF BRIDGEVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR ASSORTING RODS AND TUBES.

Application med May 11,

' To all whom it M1113/l cof/wem:l

. diameter.

. means Be it known that we, JOSEPH A.' RYAN and Louis TURNER citizens of the United States, residing at ridgeville, in the county of Alle heny, State of Pennsylvania, have invente certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Assorting Rods and Tubes, of which the following is a speciiication.

Our invention relates to machines for assorting rods and tubes and more particularly to machines for assorting glass cane and tubing. Our machine is of that type in which the blank is carried from one gauge to another until it reaches one through which it can pass. Such machines comprise a series of suchgauges disposed so that the rod or tube can pass through them by gravit'. One diiiiculty which arises in the case o glass rods and tubes is that both ends of a single blank may not be of the same The result is that one end may pass through the gauge while the other end is held up, thus blocking the machine, and usually causing breakage. Among other things, our improved machine comprises whereby this diiiicultyl is obviated. Another important feature of our machine is the means for feeding rods or tubes throuh the machine from the supply hoper. ther features and advantages will ap near from the description, which follows, of a s cies of our invention.

vthe drawing, Figal is a partial side elevation of a machine embodying our invention; Fig. 2 is a partial plan view thereof;`Fig.v 3 1s a side elevation partially in section along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 to show the operation of the gauges and cooperating parts; Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of a portion of the means for delivering the rod or tube to the assortin machine, and Fig. 5 is an enlar ed vertica section along the line 5-5 of 1 i 4.

Befgerring tothe drawing, the machine is supported upon suitable standards 10 and carries at one-end thereof a hopper table 11 for holding a supply of rod ortubing. The said hopper table is pivotally supported at one end on the upright portions 12 of brackets 13 which are'secured to the bed of the machine and is pivoted at its other end to rods 14, which are adjustable in length by means of the turn buckles 15, and are pivotally attached at 16 to the standards 10.

lactuated to dislodge the 1923. Serial No. 638,356.

' lhe arrangement'is such that the necessary inclination can be given to the table so that the ro d or tubing will gravitate toward the assortlng 'portion of the machine. At the end of the said table is disposed the hopper v shde 17 which works in guides 12" attached to brackets 13.r In Fig. 4 only one end is shown but the other end is similar. Pivotally attached ,to the bottom ofthe slide 17 are rods 18 which are pivotally connected at 65 their lower ends to cranks 19 carried by a shaft 20 supported inbrackets 21. The said shaft carries also crank 22 to which is pivotally connected rod 23 which, at its opposite end, is pivotally connected to crank 24' car- 70 ried by shaft 25 which maybe suitably rotated as by pulley 26. The arrangement is such that the rotation of the shaft 25 produces a rotation of the shaft 20- and the vertical reciprocation of the slide 17. The top of the Slide '17 is V-'shaped so that, in its lowermost position, it may receive a rod or tube from the table l1. It carries bui'ers 27 which are suitably inclined to force back the pile of rods or tubes as the slide 17 as- S0 cends 'and' to allow them to advance as the slide descends. The pile of rods or tubes is also stirred up by the agitator rods 17 reciprocated in guldeways in uprights '12 byf the rods 18 attached to cranks 19" carried 85 by shaft 20. When the slide 17 has reached its uppermost position to bring a blank up over the feed chute 28, e'ector slides 29 are lank and cause it to roll down the chute. For this purpose the lower ends of the ejectors, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 carry rollers 30 engaging rocking arms 31 which are pivoted to brackets 32 fastened to the slide 17 .v Lugs 33 are mounted upon the bed of the machine so as to be engaged by the arms 31 when the slide 17 has ascended suliiciently. This engage ment results in the elevation of the vejector slides 29 which being suitably beveled at the top cause the rod or tube to be ejected toward the feed chute 28. f

The rod or tube thus ejected is next passed to the first set of gauges and, progressively, to larger gauges until it reaches a set through which it may pass. As shown in the drawin these gauges are each made up. of four iscs v34, a pair` of which isV mounted on each side of the machine on the standards 35. The mounting is eccentric so that the space between each pair of discs- 11 clined station to another consists of a pair of 'cranks 42 pivoted to sector-shaped shifters37, one on each side of the machine, which are mounted at the ends of the through shaft 318. The several shafts 38 carry cranks 39 and are oscillated through rods 40 pivoted thereto and to cranks 41 on shafts 4l which carry also the connecting rod 43. Crank 44 on one of said shafts 41 is pivoted to a connectingrod 45 which, at its other end, is pivotally connect/ed to crank 46 carried by the shaft 2O hereinbefore referred to. 'llhe rotation of 'shaft 20 thus serves to reciprocate the connecting rod 43 and to cause the oscillation of the shafts-38 and the shifter sectors 37. timing is such that each blank which rolls down a guide 36 encounters a gauge and if it is small enough, passes therethrough. jSuitable yielding means such as the springs 47 attached to standards 35 may be provided to break the fall and lessen the breakage. 0n the other' hand, if the blank does not pass through the gauge, it is encountered by the shifter 37 which elevates it and allows it to pass to the next pair of inclined guides 36. The next gauge is of a larger size and the procedure is as before.

As hereinbefore stated, there is provided, in our machine, a means for overcoming a diculty which has arisen heretofore because of variation in diameter in a single blank, which -allows one end of said blank to pass through a gauge While the other end is held up, thus causing anobstruction in the machineand consequent breakage. For this purpose we have provided for each gauge a pair of lingers 48, one finger being provided for each fingers 48 are` rigidly attached to shafts 49, said shaftsl being pivotally mounted in arms 50 which are adjustably attached to pins 51 by means `of the collars 51', the pins 51 being carried by the standards 35. A counter-balancing set screw 52 upon which are threaded counterweights 53 is attached to one of each pair of lingers 48. It is necessary that the fingers remain inl such position so that the portion 54 thereof receives the b1l nk as it comes from the guide 36. This is accomplished by means of the set screw 52 resting against the stops 55j which, as shown, are discs eccentrically mounted on pins 51 Ito permit thenecessary adjustments. The balance is such that the linger 48 is maintained in position shown in full lines in Fig. 3 until a blank is de- 'llhe arrangement and pair of discs 34. The

atraen@ posited thereon, whereupon the weight of the blank causes the finger to be depressed, and, if the blank is small enough to pass through the gauge, the finger inally reaches the position shown in dotted lines and pe mits the. blank to fall downwardly upon the spring 47. The fingers are. then returned to thel normal position by means of the counterweights 53. lit will be apparent, however, that a depression of one finger 48 of any particular pair cannot occur without a corresponding depression of the other finger at the other side of the machine. This serves to prevent blockingk of lthe machine and breakage hereinbefore referred to. llt will also be apparent lthat the fingers and attached parts will not serve to prevent the operation of the shifter sectors 37 if. the blank is not small enough to pass through the auge. v

W at we claim as new and desire to 'secure by Lett/ers Patent of the United States, is:

1. lin an asserting machine for rods and tubes, the combination of a plurality of gauges of progressively increasing size, means mounted adjacent to each gauge for 'shifting to the next gauge a rod or tube which fails lto passthrough said gauge, means mounted adjacent to each gauge for preventing the passage through said gauge of a porti-on of a rod or tube if another portion thereof fails to pass, and means for securing the operation of the aforesaid means in proper sequence.

2. In an asserting machine for rods and tubes, the combination of a row of gauges of progressively increasing sizes, each comprising members forming a gauge'opening for each end of a rod or tube and means mounted adjacentto said openings to prevent the passage therethrough of a rod or tube end if the other end of said rod or tube fails to pass through its gauge opening.

3. ln an assorting tubes, the combinatlon of a row of gauges of progressively increasing size and each comprising gauge openings including one for ea-ch end of a rod or tube so disposed as to allow a rod or tube of the proper size to fall therethrough, means for Shifting to the next gauge a rodv or tube whichitails to pass a given gauge and counterbalanced means comprising fingers one for each end adapted to be engaged by a rod or tube when it reaches a gauge and to be moved by the weight of said rod or tube to allow the simultaneous passage only of both ends thereof through said gauge.

In witness whereof, we .have hereunto set our hands this 7th day of May, 1923.

JOSEPH A. RYAN. LUlIS TURNER..

machine for rods and v lll@ llll5 

